Nightmares
by bree1387
Summary: When Carter is involved in a car accident, the nightmares he has tell him more than what would be expected. JCPB friendship. Complete
1. Default Chapter

Carter's shift was finally over and he was glad to be heading home. A sixteen hour shift of arguing with Lucy over whatever small thing they happened to disagree about was more then he could take. Just when he thought he and Lucy were getting along something would happen that would send them into an argument. Things had been better for awhile between them ever since they spent the day scouring Chicago for Mr. Nelson so he could donate blood for his daughter. They had managed to resolve their differences, but things had recently started falling apart. Today she managed to write down a patients history on another patients chart, who happened to be Kerry's patient, resulting in a lecture from Kerry on keeping a closer eye on his student.  
  
He headed into the lounge and saw the familiar blonde-headed figure bent over a magazine, engrossed in her reading. It was the end of the day and he didn't want to finish it with another argument, so he decided to be polite.  
  
"What are you reading?" Carter casually asked, as he headed to his locker for his jacket.  
  
"Oh, just an article on hyp..." Lucy started, but was interrupted by Carter.  
  
"Thought your shift ended an hour ago," he inquired.  
  
"It did," she replied shortly.  
  
"Then why are you still here?"  
  
"Dr. Carter, it's really none of your business," Lucy snapped. She had had a long day and didn't have the patience to put up with twenty questions.  
  
"Okay, whatever. If you're gonna be like that..." Carter trailed off as he started to leave the lounge.  
  
Lucy started to feel bad for snapping at him. Sure he was being nosy, but he was making an effort to be polite. "If you really must know, a friend of mine was gonna pick me up, but the can't make it so I was going to finish reading this and take the El. Is that alright with you?"  
  
Carter tried not to groan out loud. Why did she have to make everything so difficult? He turned around to say something to her, and as he did a flash of lightning illuminated the night sky, followed by a huge crash of thunder. Suddenly the sky opened up and the rain came pouring down.  
  
"Great," Lucy muttered. "Now I'm gonna have to walk to the El in that," she said more to herself than to Carter.  
  
Carter couldn't help but feel a little guilty. Her place was on the way to his. Why not? On the other hand, is it really a good idea? Oh, what the hell. "You know, your place is on the way to mine. Grab your coat, I'll give you a lift."  
  
Lucy was a bit taken a back by the offer. Carter offering to drive her home?  
  
"Come on Luce, haven't got all day."  
  
"I never said I'd go with you."  
  
"Suit yourself." Carter turned to leave again.  
  
"Wait." Lucy decided Carter was making an effort to be polite, ever if he was a little pushy. Anyways, she wasn't looking forward to having to walk to the El in the storm. "I guess I'll go. Let me get my stuff."  
  
Together they made their way past the admit desk, headed for the ambulance bay doors. The sight of Carter and Lucy leaving together evoked some interest from the nurses who were currently at the desk.  
  
"What do you think, Conni? Something we don't know about going on between our favourite doctor and med student?" Chuny gossiped.  
  
"What's this?" Mask asked coming up to the desk after over hearing part of what Chuny said.  
  
"Oh nothing. Carter and Lucy just left together," Conni filled him in.  
  
"Really. That's interesting." Mark remembered the huge argument Lucy and Carter had today, and wondered if things really had changed so fast. He never thought he'd see Carter and Lucy together without arguing, much less leaving together.  
  
"Yeah, this could get interesting. Better start keeping a closer eye on those two." Chuny joked.  
  
"Wow, nice car Dr. Carter." Lucy tried not to laugh as she took in the rusty old Toyota Corolla sitting infront of her. "I guess since your jeep got destroyed you've had to put up with this, huh?" She couldn't help the giggle that escaped her.  
  
"Go ahead, laugh all you want," Carter said.  
  
"Sorry it's just..."  
  
"You can't see someone with such a rich family driving a junk heap like this. It's just on loan until I can buy a new Jeep."  
  
"I see". Lucy pushed down the urge to laugh as she climbed in and the seat groaned beneath her. Wonder if it' safe to be driving this car in this weather. At night.  
  
The ride was fairly quiet; they couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't start an argument. The rain showed no signs of relenting which made it impossible to see much of anything. Lucy could barely make out the flashing red and blue lights up ahead.  
  
"What's that up ahead," Lucy asked.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Those flashing lights...there!" Lucy pointed at them in hopes that would make Carter see them.  
  
"Oh, now I see them. Looks like there was an accident. Lets take a look, maybe they could use some help." Carter drove up to the policeman who was directing traffic and rolled down the window. "We're doctors. Need any help?"  
  
"The paramedics are taking care of things, you'll have to turn around. The road's closed."  
  
"Right. Okay, thanks." Carter rolled up the window and backed up until he was able to make a left turn onto a deserted back road.  
  
"What are you doing Dr. Carter? Wouldn't it of been faster to of turned right?"  
  
"Probably not. That road had quite a bit if traffic on it and it's somewhat distracting to drive in a rainstorm with other cars and headlights shining in your face. Anyways, a little scenery never hurt anyone."  
  
"What scenery? It's raining," Lucy muttered to herself. She wasn't going to argue with him. She knew it'd be futile. That's what happens when you have two stubborn people working together; neither one will back down. That's why she figured they had so many problems when they worked in the ER together. They always thought they were both right.  
  
"Thanks, Dr. Carter."  
  
"For what?"  
  
"Well, for the ride, and for being so patient with me. I know I haven't been the easiest person to work with."  
  
"You got that right. You're welcome."  
  
Lucy didn't know what else to say so she turned her attention back to the road. They were coming upon a four-way stop. Lucy focused her attention onto the road that crossed the one they were on, looking for cars. A flash of light caught her eye and her senses perked up. Sure enough, there was a car. Barely visible in the rain, headed straight for the intersection and showing no signs of slowing down. Strange, she thought. It's headlights aren't on. Carter has the right of way, why isn't it stopping? She looked over at Carter. He didn't seem to see it.  
  
"Uh, Dr. Carter?"  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"That car...it's going too fast."  
  
"What car?!"  
  
"That one!" Lucy yelled and pointed at it; anything to make him see it.  
  
"I don't see it!" he yelled back, getting impatient. Again Carter craned his neck over the wheel to get a better view, and was barely able to make out the shape of a car that was fast approaching the intersection.  
  
"Son of a....hang on Luce!"  
  
Carter slammed on the brakes, but the car was already too close to the intersection to stop in time. Things seemed to happen in slow motion. Lucy's scream was cut off by the loud scraping of metal on metal as the car broadsided them on the driver's side, sending the car into a spin. Lucy's head connected with the window, and the last thing she heard were the screeching of tires before blackness consumed her. 


	2. Chapter 2

This is my first time posting onto ff.net so I forgot to put the author's notes at the beginning of the first chapter, oops! I wrote this story 4 years ago and posted it on a few websites, but I decided I might as well add it here so more people can enjoy it! The story takes place during season 5 after "The Good Fight" so there are a few minor spoilers for that episode. It is also a Carter/Benton friendship, not slash.

I live for feedback, it will make me post the chapters faster! Enjoy!

Just to get formalities out of the way, I do not own ER or any of it's characters. They belong to Michael Crichton, Warner Bros., etc.

Slowly Lucy drifted back to consciousness . The first thing she noticed was the cold breeze blowing through the smashed window. Did I leave my bedroom window open again? she wondered. The next thing she noticed was the pounding in her head. Lucy couldn't remember the last time she'd had a headache this bad. Not even after that Halloween party at the dorms. Visions of a black car speeding straight at her flashed before her eyes. Where the hell did that come from? Suddenly everything came rushing back to her. A policeman, a car with no headlights, a terrible screeching, Carter's junk heap. Carter!  
  
Lucy bolted upright, and tried to stay conscious as once again the blackness threatened to consume her. Moving carefully this time, she looked to her left and saw Carter slumped over the wheel, blood dripping from the side of his face.  
  
Carefully she reached over and took his pulse. Slow, but steady.  
  
"Dr. Carter? Carter, can you hear me?" she asked.  
  
There was no response. Lucy glanced back at her watch. She had been unconscious for only half an hour. Besides the pounding in her head, she didn't hurt anywhere else. I'd better see how bad Carter's hurt.  
  
Undoing her seatbelt, she carefully crawled over to him fighting the nausea that was building up inside of her. She wanted to look at his face to see how badly he was hurt, but she couldn't move him incase he had a neck injury.  
  
"Dr. Carter? Please, wake up," she pleaded. She didn't know what to do. She was after all only a student. "Please."  
  
".....hurts...." he breathed.  
  
"Yes! Please say something else!" She didn't want him falling unconscious again because of the obvious head injury.  
  
"...who.....you....?..." he mumbled.  
  
"What? Carter stay with me!" It was too late, he'd already lost consciousness again. "Great," Lucy said to herself. "He's altered."  
  
After a couple minutes of contemplating what to do Lucy carefully climbed out of the car and walked over to the driver's side. She gasped when she saw Carter's face. Glass from the window had cut a huge gash on his cheek, and whatever wasn't covered in blood was badly bruised.  
  
Lucy took off her jacket and covered him with it, then took a couple seconds to assess the situation. She noticed for the first time it had stopped raining, and for that she was grateful. The thought quickly entered her mind that she could drive them to help, but that thought disappeared as fast is it had come when she actually looked at the car. There was no way it was going anywhere. The driver's side was smashed inwards, and the tire was almost ripped off the axle. Plus there was no way she was going to move Carter.  
  
Again a vision of a policeman entered her mind. Where had she seen him before. If only she could remember. Flashing lights, paramedics, the accident! There were paramedics there! She looked down at her watch. Unconscious for half an hour, five minutes from the accident to the intersection, it had been about thirty five minutes. Someone should still be there!  
  
"Come on, Pete, I think we have enough for our report. This accident was obviously caused by the storm," Officer Deadrick said.  
  
Together they headed for their squad car to let the tow truck remove the cars. Apparently the driver of one car had hydroplaned over a puddle, lost control and struck an oncoming car. Luckily no one had been killed.  
  
"Ya know, Jack," Pete said. "This does get kind of boring; writing reports on traffic accidents. Why can't I be doing real police work. Like investigating a murder or tracking a serial killer."  
  
"Well maybe you shouldn't of pulled that stunt with the Captains' daughter," Jack Deadrick snickered. "Or right now you could be doing 'real police work.'"  
  
"I just mean that there is no excitement with this."  
  
"Well just get used to it, it could be a while until the Captain forgives you."  
  
Pete Dalton bit back a rude retort and started walking to the passenger side of the car. It would do him no good if he ended up a desk Sergeant. He started to climb in when a lone figure walking up the road caught his eye. It was unusual for someone to be walking down this road at three in the morning unless they had car trouble, or their cheese has slipped off their cracker.  
  
"Hey, Jack, check this out. There's someone coming up the road."  
  
"What? Where?" He looked behind him and sure enough there was someone coming up the road, but they looked...off. They walked like they were about to collapse. As they got closer he could see long blonde hair and realized it was a young woman. "Come on Pete, let's check it out."  
  
As they got nearer, Jack could see blood running down the side of her face from a cut on her forehead.  
  
"Please....help me. My friend is badly hurt, we have to help him."  
  
"Whoa, slow down," Pete said. "Let's start from the beginning. Who are you, and what happened?"  
  
"My name's Lucy Knight. There was a car accident. My friend is badly hurt." As she said this she collapsed to her knees from exhaustion. Jack moved to her side and helped her to sit down.  
  
"Where is your friend?"  
  
"He's still in the car, at the intersection."  
  
"Pete, run back to the car and get on the radio. Tell an ambulance to meet us at the intersection. Then drive the car over here so we can drive to the intersection," Jack ordered.  
  
"Finally, something exciting," Pete muttered to himself as he ran to the squad car.  
  
"Are you hurt anywhere else, Miss Knight?" Jack asked.  
  
"Huh? No. We have to get back to my friend."  
  
Carter could not name one part of his body that wasn't sore. Of course it would help if he could feel his feet. It had gotten pretty cold since the rain storm, and every cold breeze seemed to blow right through his clothes; chilling him to the bone. Every time he shivered it amplified the pain in his head and chest. He was vaguely aware of sirens in the distance, and the sound of a car driving up. Someone was calling the name "Carter," but since it wasn't him he ignored them.  
  
"Carter?! Carter, can you hear me?" he heard some girl calling.  
  
Lucy could see Carter was awake and mumbling something but she couldn't make it out. His pulse was still slow, and he was freezing. His body was shaking uncontrollably. The ambulance, sirens blaring, pulled up beside them and the paramedics jumped out bringing the gurney and C-collar.  
  
"Be careful," Lucy warned. "He may have a serious head..."  
  
"Come on, Miss Knight. Let the paramedics do their job," Jack said as he pulled her just far enough away from the car so she wasn't in the way, but could still watch the proceedings.  
  
The paramedics carefully placed the C-collar around his neck, and leaned him back in the seat. From there they were able to listen to his breathing and make a more thorough exam. The drivers side door was badly dented inwards and was impossible to open, so the medics had to go through the passengers side to extricate him.  
  
Lucy thanked the officers and climbed into the ambulance with Carter. They wrapped a blanket around her shoulders and made sure the cut on her head was her only injury before they started working on Carter. They started an IV and wrapped him tightly in a blanket. It was all they could do until he was at the hospital.  
  
"What did you say this guy's name was? He looks a little familiar," one of the paramedics asked, trying to start a conversation to assess how lucid she was.  
  
"John Carter. He's a doctor at County General."  
  
"Really? That's where we're taking him. Do you work there too? We should probably radio ahead and tell them who we're bringing in."  
  
"Yeah, I'm a med student. He's my teacher."  
  
"Would somebody answer the MICN? I'm kind of busy here," Mark Greene said.  
  
"I'll get it," Carol said while she reached to answer it. "County General, what do you got?"  
  
"This is Unit 23. We're bringing in two victims of an MVA. Both are stable. A Lucy Knight and John Carter."  
  
Carol's mouth literally dropped open and she was speechless. Did he just say Lucy and Carter were the victims? Everyone in range of the admit desk heard this and crowded around Carol.  
  
"Could you repeat the names?" Carol asked, still not sure if she had heard right or not.  
  
"Lucy Knight and John Carter. Miss Knight just has a laceration on her forehead, but Dr. Carter is not doing well. We're coming into the ambulance bay now." Just then the sound of sirens could be heard. Everyone dropped what they had been doing and gathered around the gurney as it was wheeled in, Lucy walking behind. A series of "Oh my Gods" were heard as people saw the condition their friends were in.  
  
"Alright, give me the bullet," Mark said, taking charge.  
  
"John Carter, 28 years old, MVA. It appears they were broadsided while crossing the intersection. BP 90/50, resps 11, multiple lacerations to the head and arms, ALOC, probable concussion and broken ribs. Two IV's started in the field," one of the paramedics reported.  
  
"Alright we'll take it from here. On my count. 1...2...3!" On 3, Carter was quickly transferred and the paramedics quickly packed their gear and left.  
  
"Lucy, come with me," Kerry gently prodded while escorting Lucy to the trauma room next door.  
  
"Is he gonna be okay?"  
  
"He'll be fine. Let me examine you while the other doctors work on him."  
  
A warm IV and a unit of O-neg were quickly administered while Mark examined Carter.  
  
"Carter, can you hear me?" Mark asked while shining a pen light in his eyes. "Pupils are slow but reactive. He's got a concussion and will need a CT. Chuny, I want you to page Benton, and Carol, cut his shirt off."  
  
While Chuny went to page Benton, Carters' shirt was removed exposing his chest. Carol felt tears come to her eyes and everyone else in the room seemed to stand still. His whole left side was black and blue, and the bruise seemed to disappear beneath the waist of his pants. There was an indentation in his chest were he obviously had broken ribs.  
  
"Alright everyone, focus."  
  
"Dr. Benton, you've got an appendectomy in 3 hours," Shirley said as she handed him the chart.  
  
"Man, how come Romano gets all the interesting cases?" Peter complained, as he eyed the board.  
  
"Well, if you were chief of surgery you would too."  
  
Suddenly Bentons' beeper went off. "911 to the ER. Gotta go." Benton took off at full speed down the hall to the staircase and jogged down them as fast as he could. As soon as he entered the ER he noticed something was wrong. It was too quiet. Where was everyone? That question was answered when he went into the trauma room and saw a lot of the people in there. "What's going on?" he demanded. His heart almost stopped when he saw who was on the table. "Carter!? What the hell happened?" Peter asked as he pulled out his stethoscope and started listening to Carter's breathing; careful of the many bruises marring his left side.  
  
"He and Lucy were involved in a car accident. He's got a concussion, multiple lacerations and contusions, possible orbital fracture, broken nose, and broken ribs on the left side. He may have internal bleeding," Mark reported, knowing Benton would want nothing left out.  
  
Mark ordered tests to rule out spinal damage and to see how badly his ribs were broken while Benton gently felt around his abdomen and hips, looking for definite signs of internal bleeding.  
  
"Has he been unconscious the whole time?" Benton inquired.  
  
"Yeah, but Lucy said he was awake for a moment, but he was confused."  
  
"We need a peritoneal lavage, he may have internal bleeding," Peter ordered.  
  
"Carter? Carter, can you hear me?" Peter gently asked. He held Carter's smaller hand in his larger one, and gave a gentle squeeze. He couldn't believe he was seeing Carter laid out on the table infront of him. Why did things like this always happen to him?  
  
The young man groaned and tried to move his head.  
  
"Carter? Can you hear me?"  
  
"Who... Carter?" Carter breathed.  
  
"What? Carter, what do you mean?" A thought suddenly dawned on Peter. "What's your name?"  
  
"...don't....know."


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks for the reviews! I'm glad people still like Carter/Benton stuff!

Kristen999: Yes this is Megan, great to hear from you again! I tried sending you an email but it didn't work. Did you want to try sending me one? Might work better. It's bree1387yahoo.ca

* * *

Dr. Weaver worked at stitching up Lucy's head wound while the cops who had found Lucy questioned her about what had happened.  
  
"So as you approached the intersection, you said it was raining so hard the car was barely visible, right? So Dr. Carter was unable to see the car," Jack confirmed.  
  
"Yeah. It was strange because we had the right of way. I don't think the driver was drunk; he wasn't swerving or anything. I guess it's possible he didn't see us either."  
  
"Can you tell us anything about the car? Colour, model, you know. Anything would be helpful."  
  
Lucy thought back, but was unable to remember much about the car. She could only see its outline. "I don't remember much. It was a sedan. That's all I can tell you."  
  
"Not it's colour?" Pete prodded.  
  
"Pete, some of its paint was probably left on Dr. Carter's car. We'll take a look when we're finished here," Jack answered. "So what happened after it hit you?"  
  
"I heard it speed away. That's all I can tell you."  
  
"Thank you Miss Knight, you've been very helpful. We'll let you know as soon as we find anything." Both officers left to continue their investigation.  
  
"Okay Lucy, I want you to lie down in an exam room. I'll go check on Carter and tell you how he's doing." With that Kerry headed next door to the trauma room while Lucy went to lie down in an exam room.  
  
While Mark updated Kerry on Carter's condition, Peter worked on setting his nose and cleaning up the blood. He had already stitched up the cut on Carter's face, and still had to wrap up his ribs. Peter kept looking at Carter's face, hoping that one of times he'd find his brown eyes looking back. Of course each time he looked he was disappointed to find not only his eyes closed, but bruises and cuts surrounding them.  
  
Peter got Carol to help move Carter to a room where he could rest undisturbed. They kept the heart monitor and pulse-ox attached to be safe. Lucy had a brief visit with him to see for herself that he would be okay. Later in the morning she would be sent home to rest for a few days.  
  
He headed for the admit desk to find Mark. "Hey, I have to go back up for rounds, but if anything changes you page me. Understand?"  
  
"Don't worry Peter," Mark assured him. "We'll take good care of him, and let you know of any changes." Mark watched Peter walk away with a slightly puzzled look on his face. Peter was such a hard person to figure out. He does seem uncaring sometimes. Especially to Carter. He could remember when Carter had been Benton's student. Peter seemed to ignore him, and ride him pretty hard about the smallest things. Now that Carter was hurt, Peter seemed almost protective of him. Like a father protecting a son, Mark thought with a grin. There was an interesting thought.

* * *

He was alone in a car; driving somewhere. It was dark, and completely silent. Not even the car's engine could be heard. He looked in the rear view mirror and saw the headlights of a car looking at him like eyes. Accusing him. He had to get away, but there was no where to go. The harder he pushed on the gas, the slower the car went. The car behind him was catching up. Something was wrong with it. The headlights died out. The car looked like it had been in an accident. There was a huge indentation on the passenger side, paint was missing, the tires were shredded, the glass where the windows should of been was gone, and there was blood on the cracked windshield. There was an eerie glow coming from somewhere that allowed him to see the interior of the car. He gasped.  
  
Sitting in the passenger seat was a young woman about Lucy's age. Her skin was deathly pale and blotchy. Dried blood covered her hair, clothing, and part of her face. She looked...dead. The driver of the car looked to be about the same age. Slowly he turned his head and looked at him. An accusing stare.  
  
"You did this," the man said in a calm voice. "You did this, and you are going to pay."  
  
"I...I don't know what you're talking about," he whispered, too afraid to speak out loud.  
  
"Look what you did!" he screamed. "Look!"  
  
Slowly he glanced at the young woman to see she had 'awakened' and was staring at him. The colour had drained from her eyes, leaving a grey circle where the pupil should have been. She didn't say a word. Just stared.  
  
"Look what you did!" the man continued to shout, over and over.  
  
"No!!" he yelled. "Get away! I didn't do anything." Hysteria was starting to take over him. He had to get away. Clawing at the doors, the windows, he was trapped. "Noooooo!!!"

* * *

It was extremely early in the morning, and there were no patients except Carter, Lucy, and a few drunks sleeping it off. Most of the staff were either catching up on some lost sleep or at Doc Magoo's grabbing some breakfast. Carol and Mark were at the desk catching up on paperwork. Loud, terrified screams pierced the silence. Mark and Carol exchanged worried glances before taking off towards Carter's room. When they entered the room, they were greeted by the sight of Carter, covered in sweat, thrashing and yelling at something in his nightmare.  
  
"Carol, get me 2 mg's Ativan!" Mark ordered. He gently put one hand on Carter's shoulder, and the other over his legs in an attempt to hold him down so he didn't hurt himself. His IV had been ripped out of the back of his hand, and blood now flowed freely from it. Carol came back with the syringe and quickly injected the drug into his hip. Moments later Carter began to calm down.  
  
Mark leaned over so he was close to Carter's ear, and started to whisper soothing words. "Sshhh...it's okay Carter. You're safe, it was just a dream. It's okay." He could feel the young mans body trembling beneath his touch. Whether it was from fright or pain, he didn't know. Just to be safe he ordered Carol to administer a little more morphine.  
  
Carter's breathing and heart rate slowed down, and he looked at Mark with glassy, frightened eyes. "Who are you?" he whispered.  
  
"Carter? Do you know where you are?"  
  
No. I don't remember anything! I..." he started to panic again.  
  
"Calm down. It's okay. You're in the hospital. You were in a car accident. Your name is John Carter. I'm Dr. Mark Greene, and this is Carol Hathaway," he said looking briefly in Carol's direction.  
  
She gave Carter a brief smile as he glanced at her. It was so strange seeing someone you'd worked with closely, and gotten to know over the past 5 years, look at you with blank eyes. She searched his brown eyes for any signs of recognition, but saw none.  
  
"I know you guys?"  
  
"Yes. You're a doctor here, too. I'm just going to go make a phone call. Carol will stay here with you and start another IV. Okay?" Mark asked.  
  
"Okay," Carter tentatively replied. This man seemed nice enough. Even though he was still trembling from the nightmare, and didn't remember anyone or anything, he got the feeling that he could trust these people.  
  
Carol sat down and started cleaning his hand while Mark strode out to the admit desk. He picked up the phone and phoned the surgical floor, hoping to get a hold of Peter Benton. A nurse answered, and once Peter was on the phone, Mark explained what had happened.  
  
"I'll be right there," Peter said and hung up the phone before Mark could reply. He shrugged and headed back to Carter's room in time to see Carol heading out.  
  
"Is he asleep again?" he asked Carol.  
  
"No. He said he'd like to be alone for awhile. I think it has to do with that nightmare he had. Whatever was in it really seems to be bothering him."  
  
"Yeah well the memory loss is probably bothering him too. Anyways, he's not gonna be alone for long. Peter Benton insisted on coming down."  
  
They turned in time to see Peter jog into Carter's room.  
  
Carter didn't know whether to be afraid or just surprised. He'd been trying to remember anything about himself when this strange man burst into his room like he was expecting to find someone being murdered. At that thought Carter felt his stomach clench in fear.  
  
"Who are you? Is something wrong?" he asked, shocked. This man was looking at him like he too had been a close friend.  
  
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you Carter. I'm Peter Benton."  
  
"Are you a doctor?"  
  
"Yeah. I used to be your teacher," Peter started, hoping to jog Carter's memory. It scared him that Carter couldn't remember anything. He knew it was normal with concussions, but when it happened to someone you knew, it made it seem worse. The thought briefly entered his mind that Carter might have permanent damage and never get his memory back, but Peter promised he'd get Carter's memory back.. Even though he'd never admit it out loud, he cared about Carter.

* * *

Half an hour later, Kerry limped through the ambulance bay doors. "How are they doing?" she asked Mark.  
  
"Lucy's still resting, but we had a small problem with Carter. He woke up screaming from a nightmare. It seems he's lost all his memory. Peter's in talking to him now."  
  
"Really. I wonder..." she started, but was interrupted when those two cops came through the ambulance bay doors.  
  
"Morning Dr. Weaver," Jack greeted her. He then turned to Mark. "I don't think we've met. I'm Officer Jack Deadrick, and this is my partner Pete Dalton. We're investigating that hit and run Dr. Carter was involved in.  
  
"I'm Dr. Greene. Have you guys found the guy who did this yet?" he asked. Praying that they'd caught him.  
  
"Nope haven't found the sucker yet," Pete answered, but after a glare from Jack decided he'd better be a little more polite. "We did find red paint on Dr. Carter's car, so we've told everyone to be on the lookout for a red sedan that's been in an accident recently."  
  
"How likely is it that you'll find him with such a vague description of the car?"  
  
"That depends on many things. One, how smart the guy is. He could hide the car, or may drive around in it. He might repaint it, repair it himself, you get the idea," Pete answered for him.  
  
"As soon as we find anything else we'll let you know," Jack said when he saw the somewhat disappointed look on Mark's face. "We've gotta get going."  
  
Mark watched them leave and felt his hope of catching the guy leave with them. Everything seemed to be going wrong. At least he could be grateful for the fact that Carter and Lucy were still alive. It could be a lot worse, he thought. Mark tried to think more pleasant thoughts as he prepared himself for the last 6 hours of his shift. Hopefully before then Carter will regain his memory, the guy will be caught, and he could go home without having to worry. As he focused again on his paperwork he didn't notice the mysterious man who had been looking into Carter's room as he quickly left the hospital. 


	4. Chapter 4

A lot of the staff had returned from breakfast or were just starting their shift, and were curious about how Carter and Lucy were doing. Carol was kept busy updating them. Lucy was to be released whenever she was ready, so Conni and Chuny went to ask her why she was leaving with Carter. They were hoping for some interesting gossip, but were disappointed to find out she was only catching a ride.  
  
After Lucy had been released, Mark exited curtain area 3 to find those two police officers waiting at the admit desk. This time they had extremely serious looks on their faces. Mark got a nasty feeling in his stomach as he looked at them. He knew something was terribly wrong.  
  
"What can I do for you officers? Did you find the guy yet?" he asked, trying to hide his fear.  
  
"Dr. Greene. We need to speak with you. I'm afraid we have something serious to discuss." At the curious glances from some of the nurses he added, "In private."  
  
"Of course. We can speak in the lounge. This way." Mark led them into the lounge and found Haleh and Kerry in there. "Haleh, could you give us a minute? Kerry, you'd better listen to this."  
  
After it was only the four of them in the lounge, Jack continued with what he was saying. "I'm afraid there's good news and bad news. The good news is we found the car. The bad news is we didn't find the driver. His fingerprints are all over the car, so we're running them now."  
  
Pete started where he had left off. "We, ah, found something rather disturbing in the car. There was a note in the front seat addressed to Dr. Carter. You'd better take a look." Pete handed Mark the note and waited while he read it.  
  
Kerry watched with growing fear as Marks face paled as he read the letter. Silently he handed it to her, and she too felt her face go pale as she read it. "What are you planning on doing about this?" she asked Jack.  
  
"We'd suggest posting a guard outside Dr. Carter's room. You should alert the staff to what's going on, but don't give them too many details. Also, if you see anyone you don't recognize, alert one of the guards. Everyone must be wearing an ID badge as well. We should have an ID on this guy within the hour if his fingerprints are on file. In the letter this guy mentions something about Dr. Carter intentionally killing someone. You might want to check over the files of any patients he's worked on that have died recently."  
  
"So you think this guy might actually try something," Weaver asked. She didn't want to believe that something like this could happen. Especially to someone like Carter.  
  
"This guy might just be blowing steam, or he may be serious. We don't want to take any chances."  
  
"Thank you officers. Please let us know as soon as you find anything." Mark quickly left the room with a disturbed look on his face.  
  
As soon as the officers left Kerry went in pursuit of Mark, and found him looking through the window into Carter's room.  
  
"What is it? That wasn't like you to just leave the room like that."  
  
"Yeah I know. It's just...remember when I was attacked in the mens room? I felt so helpless after that. Who would of thought that could happen in your own backyard? I was so mad. Not only at the guy who did it, but at the cops for not catching the guy, and being so dismissive. What if the same thing happens to Carter? I don't want him to go through what I went through."  
  
"We won't let anything happen to him Mark. We have a warning this time. We'll know what to look out for," Kerry tried to reason with him.  
  
"I hope you're right." Mark continued to look into Carter's room. It appeared he was sleeping soundly with Peter Benton in a chair by his side looking down at Carter's face.  
  
"We should tell Peter about the note. He should know, and of all the staff members, he'll be able to handle it," Mark suggested.  
  
"I think you're right." Kerry gently tapped the window, prompting Peter to look at them. She waved him over and he quickly came. "Peter, there's something Mark and I feel you should know about. What I'm about to tell you can't go any further than the three of us. Understand?"  
  
"Yeah. What's this about? Is there something wrong with Carter I don't know about? Does it have to do with his family?"

"No it doesn't have to do with his family. They're still out of the country. This is more serious," Kerry answered.  
  
Mark decided he should be the one to tell him. "The police found the car that hit Carter and Lucy. Unfortunately they didn't find the driver. They did find a letter in the front seat addressed to Carter."  
  
"What kind of letter?"  
  
"It was a threat. The man thinks that Carter intentionally killed his wife. He said he was going make Carter pay for it."  
  
"How? What exactly did the letter say?"  
  
"I believe the exact words were: 'I wish you could of seen us. We were a happy couple. You killed her, and now you're going to pay.'"  
  
"What?! Who the hell is this guy? I swear if he puts one hand..."  
  
"Peter, calm down. We're posting a guard outside his room. If this guy tries anything, we'll be ready," Mark tried to reassure himself more than Peter.  
  
"Yeah, well, I'm not taking any chances. I'll be in Carter's room if anyone needs me." Peter went and resumed his position by Carter's bed; watching him sleep.  
  
"Mark, you get that security guard posted here, and I'll assemble the staff and tell them."  
  


* * *

He was in the car again. The man in the car kept yelling at him. He wouldn't stop.  
  
"I know you Dr. Carter. I know what you did! Thought you could get away with killing my wife!?"  
  
He looked at the mans wife in the passenger seat. Pale gray eyes slowly turned red. The mouth moved, but no words came out. Slowly, a gash formed over her neck severing the trachea and larynx. No blood. Just pale flesh. Panic. He had to get away! Away from them!  
  
"Nooooo! Get away! I didn't do anything!"

* * *

Peter sat and watched Carter as he slept. Why would anyone want to hurt him? He's such a good person. He'd never hurt anyone. It could almost be said Carter was resting peacefully except for the black eyes, and multiple cuts and bruises covering his face. His eyes started to move behind his eyelids and his heart rate started to rise. He started muttering 'No' under his breath, over and over. Carter's legs and arms started moving like he was trying to escape something.  
  
"Carter? Carter, man, it's okay," Benton tried to soothe. He gently put his hands on the young mans arms and held him down to prevent him from hurting himself. When Carter felt the restraining force on his arms he started struggling more forcefully. Benton was worried Carter was going to do more damage to his ribs.  
  
"Noooo!" he screamed, and sat up in the bed so fast his head almost collided with Peter's. He immediately regretted that action as pain ripped through his chest causing him to double over.  
  
"Carter! Calm down man, you're gonna hurt yourself!" Peter watched as Carter doubled over in pain. He hated seeing Carter in such terrible pain. He moved over and gently pulled Carter to his chest, careful of his ribs. Gently, he rubbed his back in a circular motion to try and calm him down. Slowly he could feel Carter's breathing slow down and he began to relax.  
  
"Carter?"  
  
"..hurts."  
  
"I know. Here, lie back down then I'll get you some morphine." Peter gently helped Carter lie down. "Let me go get you some morphine. I'll be right back."  
  
As Peter turned to leave he felt Carter grab his arm. "Carter? What is it?"  
  
Carter looked at him with eyes full of fear, and pulled Peter down closer.  
  
"What is it? Do you remember something?" Peter gently asked.  
  
Slowly Carter shook his head and whispered, "He's gonna kill me." 


	5. Chapter 5

I hope you guys are enjoying the story, I know Carter/Benton stories aren't near as popular as they used to be. I like cliffhangers, can you tell? Remember, even though this story is old, I love feedback. I'm working on stories in other fandoms right now so any suggestions to improve my writing style would be appreciated! Enjoy!

* * *

Peter was furious. Whoever had told Carter about the letter was a dead man.  
  
"Carter, it's okay. No one's gonna kill you," Peter tried to console to young man. It was obvious it wasn't working.  
  
"He said he'd kill me," Carter whispered. "Make me pay."  
  
Benton felt his heart skip a beat at hearing that. That was exactly what was written in the letter. Someone had told him!  
  
"Carter? Who told you about the letter?'  
  
"What letter?" Slowly it dawned on Carter. "There was a letter saying someone was going to kill me?" Carter asked with renewed fear in his eyes.  
  
Peter suddenly realized he had made a serious error in judgement. Carter hadn't known about the letter, and he had just told him exactly what he had wanted kept secret. Carter had enough to worry about with the memory loss and the nightmares without having to worry about the terrible letter. One question bugged Peter now. How had Carter known?  
  
"Carter listen to me, and listen carefully. No one is going to kill you. You're safe here. Understand? Now what made you think someone was trying to kill you?"  
  
"He told me."  
  
"Who was it? Did someone come in here and threaten you?" Peter was having a hard time understanding what Carter was talking about.  
  
Carter just shook his head and looked away. Peter took Carter's hand and sat back down in the chair.  
  
"Carter, I can't help you if you don't tell me what's going on. You can trust me."  
  
Slowly Carter turned his head back around and looked at Peter. It was true, he was dying to tell someone about the nightmare. Maybe then he wouldn't feel so alone and scared. But, was this man the right person to tell? How close were they? This man seemed like he wanted to help so he decided talking with anyone at the moment might make him feel a little better.  
  
"I keep having this nightmare. I'm driving somewhere. It's dark outside. There's this car next to me with some guy driving it, and a...a..dead woman in the passenger seat." Carter had to pause for a moment. Just thinking about this dream was scaring him again.  
  
Benton watched as Carter's eyes focused on something he knew only Carter was seeing. By the look on Carter's face, he knew it wasn't very pleasant. He listened intently as Carter continued with the dream.  
  
"He kept yelling at me. Telling me it was my fault and I was going to pay. That was when the young woman opened her eyes and looked at me. She had a gash on her head, and as the dream went on, a gash on her neck developed." Carter felt his eyes start to well up with tears. "He said that I had killed her. I'd never hurt anyone. It was awful. I..." He couldn't continue. He could barely hold back the tears as they slowly started to fall.

Benton had developed a sick feeling in his gut. That was terrible. He stood up and gently hugged Carter as the tears flowed. He made a promise to himself to get Carter through this no matter what.  
  
"Every time I have the dream it gets worse. I'm afraid to fall asleep again. Please, don't let me fall asleep," Carter confessed into Peter's shoulder.  
  
He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Peter had never seen anyone so afraid in their life. His heart broke as he heard Carter's pleas to not let him fall asleep again. Peter knew that was impossible. Everyone, no matter how hard the tried to stay awake, would eventually fall asleep. All Peter could promise was that he'd be here to wake up Carter at the first signs of a nightmare.

* * *

"Hey, Kerry, come take a look at this," Mark called.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"I was going through this pile of old charts here, and I think this guy might be the one," he told her.  
  
Kerry couldn't believe her ears. This was really good news finally. "So what does the chart say?"  
  
"Last month a newly married couple were involved in a car accident. A Mr. and Mrs. Vollmer. They were broadsided while crossing an intersection. The paramedics brought them in. Mrs. Vollmer had stopped breathing, and the swelling in the cords was so bad they had to perform a tracheotomy. She also had an open skull fracture with multiple internal injuries. Mr. Vollmer on the other hand suffered only whiplash and a concussion. Carter had been working on his wife for about 2 minutes when she crashed and bled out. There was nothing more he could do." 

Kerry got an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. This had to be the guy. "Mark, call the cops and give them this guys name. I have a feeling this is the guy."  
  
She watched as Mark phoned them, praying that they would catch him before he tried something with Carter. She cast a glance in the direction of his room, and saw the security guard still there.  
  
"Hello, I need to speak with Officer Deadrick...Yes it's important....Thanks." He waited somewhat patiently as Jack was found and put on the line. "Yeah, this is Mark Greene over at County. Listen, I think I've got an ID on this guy...Says on the chart here his name is Jason Vollmer...Yes that's right. Carter treated him and his wife last month when they were in a car accident. The wife died...Her name was Anna....I think that's a pretty clear motive...You do that." Mark hung up and turned to Kerry.

"Well, what did he say Mark?"  
  
"He said he'd run the name through the computer. Of course they haven't gotten the fingerprints yet. For some reason the computer that runs the prints developed a virus. They have to go to a neighboring precinct to run them, and might take awhile depending on the number of prints needing to be run from other officers."  
  
"Well I hope they hurry."

* * *

He was in the car again. It was different this time somehow. He looked to the left expecting to see the car beside him. It wasn't there. He breathed a sigh of relief and turned his head back to the road infront of him when something to his right caught his eye. He turned his head and gasped. The man was there. Sitting and staring at him. He was paralyzed with fear. All he could so was look at the man. Too afraid to breath.  
  
Suddenly without warning the man jumped at him and grabbed him around the throat.  
  
"Let go of me!! I...please..." he couldn't say anything else as his air supply was cut off. Struggling was futile as the man was much stronger. As he felt himself slipping from consciousness, he caught a glimpse of her in the backseat. Eyes bright red and smiling.

* * *

Benton kept a close eye on Carter. He'd been asleep for about twenty minutes, and so far so good. Maybe he won't have one this time, Benton thought. That thought quickly changed when Carter's heart rate started to rise and he started to struggle. What alarmed Benton was the fact that Carter was gasping for breath. Like he was choking. Or being strangled, he thought with dismay. Quickly he grabbed Carter's shoulders and shook him awake  
  
"Carter? Carter, man, it's okay. It's over," he soothed.  
  
Carter's eyes sprung open and he grabbed at his throat still struggling to breath. Peter reached over the head of Carter's bed and grabbed the nasal cannula that he been a hanging there just in case. He put it on and Carter's breathing slowly returned to normal.  
  
"Is that better?"  
  
Carter nodded his head, but didn't say anything. After he'd settled down, Peter tried to ask him what had happened, but Carter wouldn't answer. He'd withdrawn inside of himself. Peter started to feel guilty for letting this happen. Not waking him up sooner.  
  
"Carter? I have to go to the bathroom. I'll be back." Again as he turned to leave he felt Carter grab his arm.  
  
"Please, don't leave me," he pleaded.  
  
"Carter, I really have to go. You're safe here. The washroom's right there. See?" Peter pointed to where the washroom was, just on the other side of the room.  
  
Slowly Carter nodded his head.

* * *

A man entered through the ambulance bay doors, unnoticed. He walked by Carter's room and peered in the door. He hid a small smile as he headed for the elevator up to another floor. 


	6. Chapter 6

The man took the elevator up to the third floor where he confidently strode into a storage room. Unnoticed. Once there he rummaged around until he found a pair of green scrubs. Quickly he changed into them, and went in search of an ID badge. He walked into a room where he found a male nurse taking a nap. Carefully he removed his badge and walked into the washroom with it. The man expertly removed the snapshot of the nurse, and replaced it with his picture. Smiling at his handiwork, he made his way down to the ER.

* * *

"Hey, Mark," Kerry called.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Who's that guy over there? I've never seen him around before."  
  
Mark looked were Kerry was gesturing, and sure enough there was a nurse strolling towards Carter's room. Immediately Mark became concerned. He too didn't recognize the man.  
  
"Let's go check, Kerry," Mark said as the two of them headed towards Carter's room.  
  
"Hey!" Mark yelled. "Who are you, and what are you doing?"  
  
The nurse turned to Mark. "Sorry. I didn't mean to cause any trouble. I'm Michael Goncalves. I'm a registered nurse from the third floor."  
  
"What are you doing down here?" Kerry demanded.  
"One of my patients was brought up from down here. She said she left a valuable piece of jewelry beside the bed, and asked me to get it for her." At their skeptical looks he continued. "Here, take my badge and check in the computer," he said as he handed it to Mark.  
  
A moment later Mark returned from the computer and confirmed Michael's identity. They were about to say something else when they were interrupted by the paramedics delivering two GSW's. They allowed him to go and get it while they went to look after the two trauma victims. The guard had bought the story and sat down in his chair to read a magazine, forgetting about the nurse.  
  
Carter looked up as someone entered his room, and started to feel uncomfortable. His eyes went to the bathroom door where Peter was. Why does he have to take so long? he thought.  
  
"Are you a doc.." he started, but as the man stepped into the light he got a better look at his face. Panic flooded him. Again he was too afraid to breath too loud.  
  
"I see you recognize me Dr. Carter. I'd hope so after what you did," the man said in a calm voice.  
  
"You....you're from my..." Carter started, but was interrupted.  
  
"Let me do the talking Dr. Carter. Do you remember my wife?" he asked while stepping closer to the bed. "Do you?!"  
  
As Peter washed his hands he thought he heard voices coming from Carter's room, but dismissed it as Carter talking to Mark. But when he heard someone starting to yell, he quickly left the washroom only to see a strange man dressed in scrubs standing over Carter's bed. At the look of fear on Carter's face, Benton immediately became furious.  
  
"Who the hell are you!?" he yelled.  
  
He'd obviously caught the man by surprise. He darted out the door and headed for the nearest exit. Benton took off in pursuit, yelling for someone to stop the guy. As Benton followed the guy outside, he disappeared around a corner. After looking around for any clue as to where he might of gone, Peter ran back to Carter's room. As he headed there he saw staff members were gathered in groups whispering about what had just happened, Mark and Kerry, who had gotten two other doctors to cover the traumas, were yelling at each other and the security guard for letting this happen, and another one of the guards was on the phone. Probably to the police.  
  
He entered Carter's room and found Carol in there trying to comfort him, but not having much success. He was staring at the ceiling with a far away look in his brown eyes.  
  
"Carter? Carter, can you hear me?" Peter asked as he headed to Carter's bedside.  
  
"He hasn't said a word," Carol supplied. "Whoever that was, he really scared him."  
  
Moments later Mark and Kerry came in.  
  
"How's he doing?" Mark asked.  
  
"Not very good. Where were you guys? How did you let this happen!?" Peter yelled  
  
"Lets take this outside," said Kerry. "Carol, could you stay with Carter?"  
  
Carol nodded and took a seat by Carter's bed while the three doctors headed outside to continue their discussion.  
  
"There was a trauma Peter. This guy was dressed as a nurse. He even had an ID badge which was reported stolen by a nurse on the third floor moments ago. He said a patient had left something in the room and he had to retrieve it for them," Mark answered  
  
"You couldn't of let the guard go and look for it?"  
  
"There was a trauma Peter. We didn't have much time to decide what to do. I ran the badge, and it checked out. Now I'm sorry if I made a mistake, but where the hell where you, huh? I thought you were in the room with Carter!" Mark yelled back.  
  
Peter lowered his head before answering. "I was in the washroom. I thought you guys and the guard were keeping an eye on whoever entered the room."  
  
"Okay. Obviously this was a misunderstanding," Kerry said, trying to calm the two down. "From now on absolutely no one enters Carter's room except people we know. Understood?"  
  
"Dr. Weaver! Dr. Greene!" someone yelled.  
  
They turned and saw Officer Dalton running towards them, looking excited about something.  
  
"You're not going to believe this," he said as he ran up to them, out of breath.  
  
"What?" Kerry asked.  
  
"We ran that name you guys gave us. This guy has a rap sheet a mile long. Not minor stuff either. Bank robbery, attempted murder, the list goes on."  
  
"Why isn't this guy in jail?" Peter demanded.  
  
"It's kind of interesting actually. He started committing the crimes after his wife died. Like that suddenly sparked an interest in bank robbery or something. Anyways, he's extremely smart and elusive. Since he had no previous record before his wife died, it makes you wonder how he became such an expert in committing these crimes. To answer your question, we've just been unable to catch him. Here, take a look at his picture." He handed it to Kerry who paled as she saw it.  
  
"That was the guy."  
  
"That's what I thought. After we got the phone call at the station about the man who harassed Dr. Carter I drove over here as fast as I could. You guys really need to step up the security. Especially until he's out of the hospital. As long as he's here Vollmer will know where he is and might try something else."  
  
"Would he really come back after we've seen him?" Kerry asked.  
  
"He might send someone else. Like I said, he's very smart. He might use some sort of disguise. I'd suggest a guard inside and outside of the room, a security camera in the room and only a select few people can enter the room. People you trust."  
  
"Thank you officer. We understand." 


	7. Chapter 7

Two days had gone by without incident, although Carter's memory still had not returned. Peter was starting to get worried that maybe there was a more serious problem. Mark kept trying to explain to Peter to give it a little bit longer. It was normal for people who have lost their memories to take awhile getting them back.  
  
People were starting to relax, and things had started to settle down. Lucy returned to work, and insisted on seeing Carter. As she entered the room she noticed that Peter wasn't there. He had practically been a permanent fixture in the room for the past three days. Carter was lying in bed staring at the ceiling, and the guard sat in the corner reading a magazine. He looks terrible, she thought. It looked like he hadn't slept at all.  
  
"Dr. Carter?" she tentatively asked. Lucy was still unsure as to whether he would recognize her or not.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"I don't know if you remember me. I'm Lucy Knight; you're student."  
  
"I'm sorry, I don't remember you. Dr. Benton told me you were with me in the car accident. Were we good friends?"  
  
Lucy didn't know how to explain their relationship in simple terms. "You might say we were friends. We did have our differences though. We're both, uh, stubborn might be the word. You can see how that might cause problems."  
  
"Yeah, I think I get it. Was there something you wanted to talk to me about? You look like there's something on your mind."  
  
"I just wanted to see how you're doing. I heard you're being released this morning, which is good." Lucy was starting to feel a little awkward. It was hard talking to him.  
  
"From what I understand, I owe you for getting help. I might of gotten pneumonia or really sick if you hadn't of gone for help. Thank you."  
  
Lucy couldn't believe it, she was starting to blush. She prayed he wouldn't notice. "It was nothing."  
  
"I find that hard to believe. I owe you when I get my memory back."  
  
Lucy was starting to get a little nervous. The only other time she'd seen Dr. Carter so polite to her was after he had dislocated his shoulder. "I have to go back to work Dr. Carter. I hope you get your memory back, and I will see you later."  
  
Carter allowed himself a small smile as she left the room. That was strange, he thought to himself. He was having a hard time believing that he was a doctor, and he had a student he was teaching. Of course he had other more important issues to think about. He was thankful the guy hadn't comeback ever since he'd visited him that one day.  
  
It was the nightmares that worried him the most. Not only the fact that he was having them, but that they had been predicting what was going to happen. Peter hadn't told him everything that was going on with the strange man who had threatened him. Like who exactly the guy was and why he was after him. Just enough to keep his curiosity at bay. He could understand that. Benton just didn't want to worry him more than was necessary. Of course, Carter planned to get it out of him later on. Carter just didn't see how it was possible that he lost his memory, but has nightmares with someone he had seen only briefly, a month ago, in them.  
  
The day the man came into the hospital was also the day he had had the nightmare where the man was in the car. Also everything the man had spoken to him in the dream had been written in the letter. He thought that was more than coincidence. More like predictions. Carter was afraid to tell Benton all this because he'd probably think he had gone nuts.

* * *

"Are you sure it's not too soon to be releasing him? His memory isn't back yet," Peter demanded.  
  
"Like I've said before Peter. It's not totally unexpected with concussions. Also the stress from the nightmares and this whole situation isn't helping much either," Mark interjected.  
  
"Yeah, there's that too. What the hell are we going to do about this? Just because there's been two days without incident doesn't mean he's not gonna try to hurt Carter after he's released."  
  
"I've taken care of that Peter," Kerry said as she limped back to the admit desk. "I've been in contact with his grandmother in Switzerland. She's wired over the money for us to hire someone to keep watch on Carter's place until Vollmer's caught."  
  
"What the hell good's that gonna do?" Peter yelled. "He lives in an apartment! This guard would have to be in the apartment with Carter to do any good!"  
  
"I was thinking about that, and I think I have a solution," Kerry said. She allowed a sly smile to pass over her lips as she said this. "Why doesn't he stay with you? Before you say anything, hear me out. You live in a house that's big enough for the two of you right? Even with his memory gone he's taken quite a liking to you. He trusts you Peter."  
  
Peter knew she was right. It wasn't such a bad idea after all. "Okay Kerry. But I'm gonna need time off to stay with him."  
  
"That can be arranged," Mark said.  
  
"Alright. I'm going to take Carter to his place for some things, and then we'll head over to my place. Have the private duty cop waiting outside my place when we get there. We shouldn't be more than 5 minutes at Carter's place. Understand?"  
  
"Don't worry Peter."  
  
As Peter headed towards Carter's room he could hear Kerry on the phone already hiring someone. When he entered the room Carter looked like he was deep in thought. The bruises still covered his face, but were not as prominent.  
  
"Carter? I've got some good news."  
  
"They caught the guy?" he asked with hopeful eyes. Eyes, Peter noticed, that had developed black bags under them. He'd personally make sure Carter started getting a full nights sleep.  
  
"Sorry. They haven't got him yet. As you know you're being released this morning. We've decided you're going to go home with me. Your grandmother in Switzerland has wired some money over, and we're going to hire a private cop to sit guard outside my house."  
"I hope I'm not any convenience, Dr. Benton," Carter started. "I could just stay here or something."  
  
"No. Definitely not. Believe me, it's not a problem. We'll stop at your place first to get some of your things, then we'll head on over to mine. I've got the next few days off work, so I'll be able to stay there with you."  
  
"Wow. Thank you Dr. Benton." Things were starting to look a little better. Maybe once he left the hospital the nightmares would stop. Thinking about the nightmare was setting him on edge. At least the private duty cop will be able to keep that guy from hurting him.  
  
"No problem. Now, we need to get you some clothes to wear. I'll have Carol bring in the paperwork so you can sign out, and I'll go to the lost and found for some clothes."  
  
Ten minutes later Carter was sitting on the edge of the bed waiting for Peter to come back. It had surprised him how hard it was to sit up. Not only from the pain caused by his broken ribs, but the lack of sleep was making him feel weak. He hoped he'd be able to stand up without falling over. Considering he'd only slept about 2 hours in the past two days, sleep was actually starting to look pretty good. Whenever someone came to check at night to make sure he was asleep, he'd just pretend. He thought he'd had everybody fooled, but Peter had noticed. He just didn't say anything about it. Yet.  
  
Peter came back carrying a pair of blue scrub bottoms and a long- sleeved button up shirt. He saw Carter staring off into space.  
  
"Carter?" he asked, getting no response. He tried again a little more forcefully. "Carter? I've got some clothes for you."  
  
"Oh. Didn't hear you come in. Thanks," Carter said.  
  
"Can you manage? Or do you need some help." Peter knew it was extremely painful to bend down to put pants on with broken ribs.  
  
"I can manage," Carter said, more confidently than he felt.  
  
"If you're sure. I'll just be outside. Call if you need me." Peter left the room. He had a feeling Carter would call for help once he tried to bend down.  
  
Carter took the scrub bottoms and contemplated how he was going to do this without aggravating his ribs, or falling over. He tried holding them low enough so he could lift his leg and put it in, but moving his leg like that still hurt. Maybe this wasn't going to be as easy as he'd originally thought.  
  
"Dr. Benton?" he said as loudly as he could. "I think I might need some help."  
  
Peter came in, and as he suspected, Carter was having trouble getting dressed.  
  
"Here, give me the pants. I'll help you with those."  
  
Carter handed them over, and felt slightly awkward about this. This man was a doctor after all. He'd seen it all before.  
  
Peter took the pants from Carter and knelt down infront of him. He gently eased the pants over both his ankles and just past his knees, careful of the livid bruise still on his left leg. He couldn't get any farther unless Carter stood up.  
  
"Carter, you've gotta stand up. I can't pull these on any farther."  
  
Carter shakily slid his feet to the floor. He stood up, and as he did he felt a wave of dizziness hit him. Benton felt Carter start to waver, and used one of his hands to grab onto his bicep so he wouldn't topple over.  
  
"Just take a deep breath, Carter. Almost done," Peter said as he waited patiently for Carter to regain his equilibrium. He then slid the pants up to his hips and helped him sit down.  
  
"Thanks. I think I can manage the shirt on my own."  
  
"Yeah, well, I'll just hang around incase."  
  
Benton watched as Carter gingerly removed the gown and reached for the shirt. Peter couldn't help but wince when he saw the bruising on his side that disappeared under the bandage supporting his ribs. He was thankful there was a button-up shirt available. 


	8. Chapter 8

After Carter was dressed Peter helped him into the car. They drove in silence as Carter was too tired, and not feeling very good, and didn't feel like making conversation. They arrived outside Carter's place, and together they went up to his apartment. The keys had been retrieved from the clothes Carter was wearing the night of the accident. As they entered they were greeted by a musty smell, and the air was thick as a result of windows not being opened in days.  
  
"This is your place. Does it ring any bells?" Peter asked hopefully.  
  
Carter spent a few moments looking around before he answered. "Sorry, nothing looks familiar," he said as he wandered around the room. He went over to a table beside the couch to look at the pictures.

"Carter, we don't have time to look around. We've gotta get your stuff then go back to my place."  
  
"Just a sec." Something small, yellowish and wrinkled sat in a jar of what he guessed was some kind of preserving fluid. "What the heck is this?"  
  
Peter did a double take when he saw it. Surely he hadn't been serious all those years ago. Had he?  
  
"Ah, that's an appendix. Probably mine."  
  
"Yours? Why's it here? That's kind of a strange thing to keep."  
  
"I had appendicitis a few years ago. You did the operation. I didn't think you were serious when you said you had it on your mantle," Peter said with a small smile.  
  
"I can't believe I was serious either." His focus moved over to a framed photo of him and a black guy who looked to be about his age. They had their arms around each others shoulders, were smiling happily, and were each holding a beer. It looked like they had been close friends. For some reason he got a sad feeling looking at the photo.  
  
"Who's this with me?"  
  
Peter felt his stomach clench as he saw the photo. "That's Dennis Gant. You were roommates and surgical interns together."  
  
"Were?"  
  
"He died a few years back. He was hit by the El-train."  
  
That's why he got a bad feeling looking at the photo. "Why was he hit? Did he trip, or was he pushed?"  
  
"The police said he tripped. You didn't believe them. You thought he jumped."  
  
"Jumped?!"  
  
"He was depressed." Peter was starting to get uncomfortable with this line of questioning. "Come on, Carter, get a move on. We've got to go."  
  
Reluctantly, Carter found the bedroom and quickly put some clothes into a duffel bag. On the ride to Benton's place he found his mind straying back to the photo. He wished with all his might that his memory would come back. Looking at the photo of Dennis had left him feeling disconcerted. He had gotten a sad feeling while looking at the photo, but just couldn't remember why. He knew the memories were there, he just couldn't access them. It was getting frustrating.  
  
Benton noticed Carter was getting a little agitated.  
  
"Carter? What is it?"  
  
"Oh, it's nothing," Carter replied.  
"I know you Carter. Spit it out."  
  
Carter had learned enough about Benton in the past three days to know that he wouldn't relent until he had answered truthfully.  
  
"Why isn't my memory coming back? It's getting so damn frustrating. I've waited days now. I know the memories are there; I just can't get to them," Carter confessed. He needed to hear some form of reassurance.  
  
"It's normal for a person's memory to take this long to return. It can take five minutes or five days. Just give it time."  
  
Carter didn't find that terribly reassuring, but he'd come to expect that from Benton. As they pulled up infront of Peter's house Carter saw a blue car parked across the street from the house with someone sitting in the front seat.  
  
"The guard I take it?" he said.  
  
"Yeah. Let's go talk to him. Come on grab your bag," Peter said as he got out of the car.  
  
Together they walked over to the car. Carter was still sore and stiff, but he was covering it up pretty well, Benton noticed. The man got out of the car to greet them.  
  
"You must be Dr.'s Benton and Carter. I'm Dave McGuinty," he greeted them as he reached out to shake their hands.  
  
"So did Dr. Weaver fill you in on what's going on?" Benton inquired.  
  
"Yes, she did. Kind of a nasty situation isn't it? So from what I understand you want me to watch your house and keep an eye out for anything suspicious. Right?"  
  
"Yeah. At the first signs of anything suspicious, let us know. Understand?"  
  
"Gotcha. It was a pleasure meeting you two. I'll let you get back on with your business," McGuinty said as he turned back to his car.

As Carter and Benton headed toward the house Peter noticed Carter was having trouble carrying the bag. He offered to carry it for him, but Carter said he could manage. Still stubborn as always, Benton thought.  
  
Once inside, Benton showed Carter to his room and helped him get settled. Carter told Benton he'd like to rest in his room till dinner was ready. Of course by rest Carter meant he'd lay down, but not let himself fall asleep. Whatever it took.

* * *

Benton searched his kitchen for something easy to prepare for dinner. He decided on the canned soup. It should be pretty easy for Carter to handle. Peter was interrupted in his preparations by the ringing of the telephone.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Peter? Good. It's Mark. I was just calling to see how Carter was making out."  
  
"He's resting now. He seems pretty on edge though. Disturbed that his memory isn't coming back."  
  
"Yeah. How's the private duty cop working out?" Mark asked.  
  
"So far so good. I just hope that this Mr. McGuinty knows what he's doing, and will be able to do his job if Vollmer goes after Carter again."  
  
"I wouldn't worry about it, Peter. I'm sure he knows what he's doing. Listen, a trauma just came in. I've gotta go."

* * *

Carter could hear Benton's voice as he talked on the phone. The comforting sound was starting to lull him to sleep. He tried to fight it, but eventually exhaustion won. He could still hear Peter's voice as he drifted off to sleep. 


	9. Chapter 9

Thanks again to everyone who's reviewed so far! It means a lot. Enjoy the next chapter!

* * *

He awoke with a start. The house was dark. The window was open, but there was no sound. No traffic or anything. Cautiously, he made his way down the hall to Peter's room. Peter was flat on his back on the bed, apparently asleep. Quietly he left the room towards the kitchen. Something was wrong. It was too dark, and too quiet. Suddenly the ringing of the doorbell pierced the silence. He felt panic flood him. He had to hide before it was too late. The doorbell wouldn't stop. As fast as he could he ran down the hall to Benton's room.  
  
"Dr. Carter!! You're not going to make it!" the man hollered as the sound of the front door creaking open could be heard.  
  
"Dr. Benton? Please wake up," he pleaded. He tried shaking his shoulder and got no response. "Dr. Benton!" he yelled with increasing urgency. "Get up! He's here!" Benton didn't budge.  
  
He heard heavy footsteps echoing as the man walked down the hallway and entered the bedroom. Quickly, he crawled under the bed as the man entered the room. The man wore a policeman's badge. As the man bent down the reach under the bed, he saw the name inscribed on the badge. Deadrick.

* * *

Benton was spooning the soup into two bowls when he heard terrified screams coming from the room Carter was in. Immediately he dropped what he was doing and ran into Carter's room. As he entered he was greeted by the sight of Carter sitting on the edge of the bed, panting for breath. Peter went over and sat beside him.  
  
"Carter?" he softly asked.  
  
"I'm okay," Carter responded. He knew once again he wasn't fooling Benton. He was shaking like a leaf. This dream had told him something. If only he could figure out what.  
  
"Wanna tell me what was in it this time?" Benton inquired. He could feel Carter trembling and knew this dream had been as bad as the others.  
  
"No...I... just need to think about it," Carter answered. The man had worn a badge that said Deadrick. Why? He did know Officer Deadrick was in charge of the investigation. He thought back to when he had been in the hospital. Carter had thought that the dreams were actually predictions. What had this one been saying? He decided now was the best time to ask Benton what had been on his mind for awhile.  
  
"Dr. Benton? Why is this guy after me?"  
  
"I told you. He's mad at you for something you couldn't change."  
  
"Yeah, but what was it I couldn't change? I have a right to know."  
  
Benton knew Carter was right. He wasn't in the hospital anymore, and didn't seem as scared as he'd been when he was in the hospital. He did seem more level-headed.  
  
"About a month ago a man and his wife were brought in after being in a car accident. You worked on the wife, but she died. I guess her husband holds you responsible."  
  
"What was his name?"  
  
"It was Jason Vollmer. I don't know his wife's name."

* * *

"Dr. Greene!" Jerry hollered across the ER. "There's an Officer Dalton on the phone for you!"  
  
"Thank you, Jerry," Mark said as he took the phone.  
  
"Yeah, this is Dr. Greene. Did you find something?"  
  
"You could say that," answered Pete. "We got the results back on the fingerprints. With two matches."  
  
"What?! Two matches?"  
  
"Yeah. One for Jason Vollmer, and one for an Al Devreaux. It looks like he changed his name for some reason. I'll see what else I can find out. Unfortunately my partner Jack has gone home sick so I'm gonna be working on my own. I might be a little slower finding these things out though, so be patient."  
  
"I understand, but please try to hurry." Mark hung up feeling discouraged.

* * *

Carter and Benton sat in the kitchen eating lunch. Carter had been deep in thought since the nightmare, and didn't feel like talking. Benton just wished Carter could get a good nights sleep without having nightmares. If he still wasn't sleeping well by the next day he was considering getting Carter a prescription that would put him into a dreamless sleep. Peter had hoped it wouldn't come to that. He was just thankful Carter was actually eating. At the hospital after the nightmares he'd refused to eat. He'd also have to remind Carter to take his pain medication after lunch. It was obvious his ribs were bothering him.  
  
"We have to get out of here," Carter mumbled.  
  
"What?" Benton asked, taken by surprise. He had no idea what Carter was talking about.  
  
"I just figured out part of what my dream was telling me."  
  
"Carter, what the hell are you talking about? What do you mean your dream told you something."  
  
"So far my dreams have predicted what's going to happen. I think this one might also be predicting something." Carter knew Benton was going to think he was crazy, but he had to tell him. "He came into the house after us. We have to leave before he gets here."  
  
Benton couldn't believe what he was hearing. Maybe Carter wasn't as recovered as he'd originally thought. Carter was starting to look panicked again. "Carter? Relax. It was just a dream. No one is coming into the house. We've got the guard outside. Remember?"  
  
Carter got up and started walking towards the front door. Peter walked over and stepped infront of Carter. "Carter, what the hell are you doing, man?" Peter could see Carter's eyes had started to glaze over. Gently he reached out and touched his shoulder. He was shocked when Carter flinched from his touch.  
  
"Please, Dr. Benton," he pleaded.

* * *

Quickly, the man hunched down and ran behind the hedge row opposite the car. He carefully observed the man in the car, and thought of a plan. He picked up a nearby rock, and as inconspicuously as possible hurled it at the car. It made a satisfying crack as it bounced off the hood. The guy in the car got out to investigate the strange noise, and as he did the man who was hiding behind the bushes stealthily crept up behind him and brought the butt of his gun down on his head.  
  
Jason Vollmer smiled as the guard sank to the ground. 


	10. Chapter 10

Peter couldn't understand why Carter had just suddenly become scared. One minute he seemed somewhat calm, the next he started panicking.  
  
"Carter, listen to me. You're safe here. Lets..." Peter was interrupted by a knocking on the front door. Immediately Carter turned sheet white. Benton was afraid he was going to pass out. As he moved to open the door, Carter stepped infront of him.  
  
"Don't!" Carter yelled. "Please, don't open the door."  
  
"Carter, come on man. Out of the way."  
  
Carter just shook his head. Again the man knocked on the door. More insistently this time.  
  
"Carter, relax. I'm going to open the door and show you there's nothing to be afraid of." At the insistent shake of Carter's head, Benton gently placed both his hands on Carter's shoulders and moved him to the side. As he turned the doorknob he spared a sidelong glance at Carter, and saw him shaking his head from side to side with a terrified look on his face. Peter opened the door to see Jack Deadrick standing there.  
  
"Hello Dr. Benton, Dr. Carter," Jack greeted them. He did a double take when he saw Carter. "Are you feeling alright Dr. Carter?"  
  
Benton glanced at Carter, then answered for him. "He'll be fine, just had a little scare. Now, why are you here?"  
  
"I've got some great news. We caught him! Mr. Vollmer's in custody at the moment. We need you to come down to the station to ID him. You know, standard operating procedure."  
  
"Yeah, I know. Have you told McGuinty yet?" Peter asked.  
  
"Yep." Deadrick moved to the side so Peter and Carter could see the street. "He left already. Now, if you two would come with me, we'll go to the station and I'll have you back here as soon as possible."  
  
Carter watched Deadrick closely. Something was wrong with this picture. Deadrick was acting differently. Why would McGuinty leave without saying anything? He really didn't want to go to the station. He knew he should be glad that Vollmer was caught, but why did he feel uneasy about this? Carter looked over at Benton to see if he had picked up on anything. Apparently he hadn't.  
  
"Carter? Come on, lets go."

* * *

  
Mark put down the phone with a dismayed look on his face. That was the third time he'd phoned in the past fifteen minutes. Surely Benton and Carter hadn't left the house. Maybe he was making too big a deal out of this. He was probably busy at the moment and coming to the phone just wasn't possible. Still, something about the situation bugged Mark. He picked up the phone and called Pete Dalton.  
  
"Hi, Officer Dalton? This is Dr. Greene calling from County. I know I'm probably being paranoid, but I've tried to phone Benton for the past fifteen minutes and he isn't answering the phone. Do you think you could run over there to make sure everything's okay? My shift's not over for the next few hours so I can't do it myself."  
  
"Um, you're right. You're probably just being paranoid. I'd give it a little while longer before getting worried. By the way, I'm glad you phoned. I managed to find out more on Vollmer and the name change," Pete replied.  
  
"Oh yeah?" Mark asked, temporarily distracted from worrying about Benton and Carter.  
  
"Yeah. Al Devreaux was a major criminal. You name it, he did it. A few months ago he changed his name to Jason Vollmer about the same time he married his wife Anna. Maybe to protect his past, because he stopped committing any crimes after he was married. Once his wife died, he started up again. You can see why Vollmer might be a little peeved with Dr. Carter."  
  
"Jesus," Mark said softly. All his worries from before came back twice as strong. "I know you think I'm over reacting, but please check that everything's alright."  
  
"Alright," Pete sighed. "I'm on my way there now."

* * *

"So," Peter started. "Where was Vollmer caught?"  
  
"It's kind of interesting. It was Pete who caught him. Pete was at your apartment Dr. Carter. He was just checking up on things. When he went inside, Vollmer happened to be in there."  
  
"Why would Vollmer of been in my apartment in the first place?" Carter asked from the backseat. It was the first thing he'd said since they left the house, and his voice held a note a contempt, which bothered Peter.  
  
"He was probably looking for you, or something that could tell him where you could be."  
  
Jack turned the car onto one of the streets that would take them away from the station. Carter immediately felt a knot form in the pit of his stomach. He glanced at Peter and saw he had a confused look on his face.  
  
"Where are you taking us?" Peter demanded.  
  
"Oh, you'll find out soon enough." With that, Jack picked up his gun and brought it down on Peter's head, knocking him unconscious.  
  
"What the hell are you doing!?" Carter yelled, panicked.  
  
"Shut up," Deadrick said in a menacing tone.  
  
"What are you going to do to us?" It was getting hard for Carter to think straight. He felt the panic threaten to overtake him, but he fought it down.  
  
"I won't do anything to you. I'll leave it up to Vollmer," Jack nonchalantly replied.  
  
"No! Please, let us go. Why are you doing this? I thought you were on our side."  
  
"On your side? I didn't think you were that naive. You know, a little money can make someone do almost anything."  
  
"Let me out of here!" Carter tried opening the door, but it was locked. Frantically, he started banging on the glass. Without warning Deadrick jerked the steering wheel hard, sending Carter into the window. Hard. At the same time waking Peter up.  
  
"I said shut up! Try that again and next time it'll be more than your face splattered against the window!"  
  
Not only had that being slammed into the door given him a headache, but it had really jarrred his ribs. He tightly closed his eyes, and silently willed the pain away.  
  
Peter slowly opened his eyes as he felt the car jerk hard to the right. It amplified the pounding in his skull. Remembering the last thing that had happened, he glanced at Carter and felt concern flood him as he saw his eyes tightly shut and a look of pain on his face. What the hell was going on? Why was Deadrick doing this? Benton was shocked when they drove up behind Carter's apartment building.  
  
Carter had opened his eyes and had also noticed where they were.  
  
"Why are we here?" Carter shakily asked.  
  
"It's Vollmer's idea. You see, he wants you to remember his wife before he kills you."

* * *

Pete pulled up infront of Benton's house, and the first thing he noticed was the absence of the guards car which should of been parked out front. He got out of the car and walked up to the front door, keeping an eye open for anything out of the ordinary. He reached up and knocked on the door. After a few minutes with no response he tried again.  
  
"Dr. Benton!? Dr. Carter?! Are you home? It's Officer Dalton!" he called.  
  
Again no response. He reached out and tried to open the door. To his shock, it wasn't locked and opened easily. Cautiously he drew his gun and entered the house. Systematically he searched each room. As Dalton approached the bathroom he heard someone moaning. He stood outside the door for a moment, then stepped into the doorway and aimed his gun at the first person he saw. He quickly looked around the rest of the bathroom, and finding no one else in there, bent to down to help the man on the floor.  
  
Pete removed the gag from his mouth and helped untie his wrists and ankles.  
  
"Who are you?" Pete asked.  
  
"Dave McGuinty. I was the cop assigned to guard Dr. Benton's house."  
  
"Obviously you didn't do a very good job," Pete muttered, earning a glare from Dave. "So what the hell happened?"  
  
"I'm not really sure. Something hit my car. I think it was a rock or something. As I got out to investigate something hit me on the back of the head, then I woke up here. That's all I remember."  
  
"You should go to the hospital and get checked out. Where's your car?"  
  
"What do you mean?" Dave asked, genuinely confused. "I left it parked outside."  
  
"Well it's not there now. Come on, I've got a phone call to make," Pete said as he helped McGuinty up. As he walked past the kitchen a piece of paper on the table caught his attention. Curious, he went over and picked it up.  
  
"Oh my God," he breathed. "Dave! Get over here and listen to this." When he was sure he had Dave's attention he read the note out loud. "Finally I have your friends. It was much too easy getting them. Really, I expected so much more from you guys. Now, like my wife, they both will die." 


	11. Chapter 11 Final

Well, here's the last chapter. I hope everyone enjoyed this, and if you're interested I have another fic like this that's almost finished I might post. Thanks to everyone who reviewed!  
Megan

* * *

Carter and Benton entered Carter's apartment followed by Deadrick, who kept his gun trained on their backs. He forced them to sit on the couch in the living room. Moments later, the man Carter had feared for the past few days entered the room with a gun of his own trained on them.  
  
"Well, well, well. How nice to finally meet you Dr. Carter. You don't remember me do you? Infact, I don't think you remember much of anything right now. Oh, Dr. Benton. Glad you could join us. Deadrick, go find some rope, duct tape, whatever and tie Benton here up. I don't think Dr. Carter's up to fighting. Are you?" Vollmer said with a sly smile. Carter had turned deathly pale, beads of sweat were forming on his forehead, and he had started trembling.  
  
Deadrick returned with a length of rope and proceeded to tie Benton's hands behind his back, and his ankles to the leg of the couch so he couldn't go anywhere. When he was done he turned to Vollmer for further instructions. Jason put an envelope into his hands.  
  
"I don't think you're needed anymore Deadrick. All the money's there."  
  
"Of course." Deadrick turned to Carter and Benton. "This is where I make my exit. Enjoy the rest of your lives," Jack said with an evil grin as he left the apartment.  
  
"What the hell do you want from us," Benton demanded.  
  
"For such a smart person, sometimes you can be awfully dense," Vollmer said, as he started pacing back and forth. "You don't remember my wife, do you Dr. Carter? I have a problem with that. I think a person should remember everyone they kill. I do."  
  
"I didn't kill your wife," Carter whispered.  
  
"How do you know? You don't even remember!"  
  
Carter involuntarily flinched as Jason's voice raised in pitch. This was starting to feel like one of his dreams. He promised himself he wouldn't fall apart. It was his fault Benton was dragged into this, he was going to get him out of it. If only he had his memory back!  
  
"I'm sure I did everything possible to save her. I'm very sor..."  
  
"Don't patronize me! Your words mean nothing! Anna was my life! She meant everything to me then you come along and kill her. I did everything for her. Even changed my name and cleaned up my act. I'm a firm believer in doing to people what they have done to you. I thought Lucy was your wife. It would of been perfect. You think your car accident was an accident? It was planned from the day Anna died. I had someone follow you two as you left the hospital. They radioed me your location, and the rest you can figure out."  
  
Carter felt the anger rising up in him, replacing the fear. This man wasn't some supernatural demon that had appeared to him in his dreams. He was a psychopath, plain and simple. He had intentionally caused the accident! It was Vollmer's fault he and Lucy were injured. It was his fault he had had to live with no memory for the past few days. It was also his fault he had been terrified every waking moment of falling asleep into some nightmare that was even more terrifying.  
  
"You son of a bitch!" Carter yelled, shocking Benton. "You caused this! It's your..." Carter was cut short by a vicious backhand to the face.  
  
Benton started fighting harder against the restraints. He felt so helpless. He just couldn't sit here and watch this guy hurt Carter again!  
  
"Shut up!" Vollmer yelled. "It's your fault. All yours! And now my sweet Anna is gone."  
  
Anna. That name. He'd heard if before, but where? It sounded so familiar. He was so close to remembering. The more he thought about the name, the more he felt a sense of loss. The image of a beautiful smiling blonde entered his mind. She was wearing a dress and sitting at a table at some sort of party. A banquet.  
  
"I'm remembering something," he whispered to Benton.  
  
"It's about time!" Vollmer exclaimed.  
  
"What do you remember, Carter?" Peter asked him. He could feel Vollmer becoming increasingly agitated, but tried to ignore him.  
  
"Anna. She was blonde and I remember her at some sort of banquet."  
  
"That's Anna del Amico. Pedes resident. You..."  
  
"We worked closely together. She left for Philadelphia a few months ago," Carter finished for him. "I remember." Carter turned to Vollmer who had been glaring at him the whole time. "I remember your wife," he simply stated. "I couldn't do anything to save her. She was a goner by the time the paramedics brought her in."  
  
Carter realized the moment Vollmer's face turned red with anger it had been the wrong thing to say. Before he could react, Jason grabbed him by the front of the shirt and slammed him against the wall opposite the couch. He gasped as he felt Jason's elbow press into his ribs.  
  
"Leave him alone!" Peter yelled. He felt the rope digging into his wrists as he struggled, but didn't care. He had to get to Carter.  
  
"You killed her!" Jason shouted. To emphasize his point, Vollmer again slammed him into another wall.  
  
"I did everything I could." Carter felt himself connect with another wall. He could feel what was left of his strength slip away, and be replaced with pain. Carter could feel consciousness slowly ebbing away.  
  
Benton couldn't watch this anymore. He knew if he didn't do something soon Vollmer was going to kill Carter. He could feel the rope around his wrists start to give. Just a little more. Suddenly, a crash coming from the front door broke the silence, and footsteps could be heard. Peter was shocked when Officer Dalton came charging into the room, gun pointed at Vollmer's chest. He watched in horror as Jason put his arm around Carter's throat and held him infront, using him as a human shield.  
  
"Let him go!" Pete yelled, his gun steady in his hand.  
  
Vollmer just grinned. "Glad you could join the fun. I'd put your gun down if I were you. I could snap his neck like a twig. You know what I'm capable of."  
  
Peter watched the exchange. His fear for Carter doubled when he realized Dalton had come alone. There was no way he was going to be able to do this without help. He looked at Vollmer, and saw he was grinning. He looked so sure of himself. Benton then looked to Pete. He could read him like an open book. Just by looking at his face he could tell he was torn between putting the gun down, or taking a shot. Don't play the hero kid, Peter thought. There's no way you'll be able to hit Vollmer without also risking hitting Carter.  
  
"I'm not putting down the gun," Pete said firmly. It was obvious he had made up his mind and wasn't budging. Vollmer's smile slipped a little, but he regained it as another thought entered his mind.  
  
"Guess you'll have the shoot Dr. Carter first then. Or if you'd prefer, I'll kill him for you."  
  
Much to his disappointment, Vollmer didn't get any reaction from Dalton. He decided to change tactics.  
  
"You know your partner can't be trusted. He's a very weak man. A little money was all it took and he was willing to sacrifice two, and now three lives."  
  
"You can call him what you want, but he's not my partner. He was assigned to me to make sure I behaved. Now that he's not here, I'll do whatever I please."  
  
Carter couldn't take it anymore. It was extremely hard to breathe. Every breath he took felt like fire all though his chest. He was starting not to care if Pete shot him to get to Vollmer. It might be less painful than this. Carter looked at Dalton and saw his eyes focus on something behind them.  
  
Peter saw movement out of the corner of his eye, and was amazed to see another police officer coming up behind Vollmer. Back up had arrived after all. Apparently Vollmer hadn't realized there was a door on the other side of the room as well. The officer had his gun trained on Vollmers back. What if he fired and the bullet went through Vollmer, and into Carter?  
  
Vollmer was fed up with this. If this rookie cop was going to shoot him after all, why not take Carter down with him? He prepared to make his move.  
  
The cop behind Vollmer saw his muscles tense, and in a split second he made his decision.  
  
The sound of a gunshot echoed as Vollmer fell to the ground, taking Carter with him.  
  
"Carter!" Peter yelled. Pete holstered his gun and untied Peter from the couch. In an instant all three of them were gathered around the two crumpled bodies on the floor. Not sure if one or both of them were still alive.  
  
Peter reached out and felt for a pulse on Carter. He heaved a sigh of relief as he felt a faint pulse. He glanced over at the officer who had shot Vollmer, and saw him shake his head after having felt Vollmer for a pulse and not finding one.  
  
"Carter? Come on man. Can you hear me?" It felt as if he'd been saying that far too much these past few days. He gently tapped Carter on the face to try and rouse him. Peter was alarmed to see a bluish tinge to Carter's lips. He had probably passed out from lack of oxygen. He was also dismayed the see a bruise forming around Carter's neck from the pressure of Vollmer's arm.  
  
Slowly, Carter drifted back to consciousness. The first thing he felt was the pain in his chest and back, and a tightness around his throat. He also felt something warm and wet soaking through his shirt. Alarmed, his eyes flew open to look directly into Benton's concerned ones. Immediately he tried to sit up, but Benton pushed him back down.  
  
"Stay put Carter. Just relax," Peter soothed.  
  
"Am I bleeding?" he croaked.  
  
The question alarmed Benton at first until he realized when Vollmer had been shot, he had taken Carter down with him and they had landed side by side. Some of Vollmer's blood had gotten onto Carter's clothes.  
  
"You're okay Carter. It's not your blood."  
  
Realization slowly dawned on Carter.  
  
"He's dead?" he hesitantly asked.  
  
"Yeah. He was shot in the back." Benton looked up and saw the officer who had shot Vollmer dragging the body away from Carter, and covering it with a blanked from the couch. Pete also came over and knelt by Carter.  
  
"The paramedics are on the way," he told them. "After they check you both out, we're gonna have a lot of questions that will need to be answered about tonight."  
  
Carter started to sit up on his own again, but Benton started to protest.  
  
"I'm alright," Carter insisted. "I just want to sit up."  
  
Peter gently helped Carter sit up, and kept a hand on his back for support as he saw Carter start to waver, but regain his balance. Once he was certain Carter was alright, he turned to Dalton.  
  
"How'd you know where to find us?"  
  
"I got a call from Dr. Greene who said he'd been trying to get a hold of you and couldn't. He wanted me to go to your place to check on you guys. When I got there the house was empty except for your guard McGuinty tied up on the bathroom floor."  
  
"So he didn't leave after all," Carter said.  
  
"Apparently not. He said he was knocked unconscious, then woke up in the washroom. I was on my way back to the station when I saw my partner driving a squad car with you two in it. I guess he didn't see me. I followed you guys here, and I think the rest you can figure out."  
  
"Why did you wait so long to come in after us?" Pete was angry Dalton had waited so long and Carter had ended up hurt because of it.  
  
"I was waiting for back up to arrive, but when I heard Vollmer start yelling I couldn't wait any longer."  
  
"What about your partner?" Carter inquired.  
  
"He's been taken into custody. He was caught red handed with the cash. Couldn't explain fast enough why he was carrying that much cash in an envelope. Not that it mattered. I had already seen him kidnap you two."  
  
The coroner had arrived and was preparing to have Vollmer's body removed. A team of paramedics was also just coming in the door, and was heading for Carter, as he seemed to be the one hurt.  
  
Peter stayed with him as the paramedics carried out their exam. They insisted on taking him to the hospital just to be on the safe side. As Carter and Benton left the apartment, Carter looked one last time at Vollmer's body as it was lifted into the body bag and felt a strange sense of relief that the man who had tormented him was finally gone.

* * *

The End   
Copyright Megan, 2000 


End file.
